The Root of Violence Is Not the Weapon, It’s the Will

In every act of violence, particularly when it leads to the loss of life, there's often a tendency to focus on how it happened — what weapon was used, how it was obtained, and what could have been done to restrict access to it. While these are valid conversations, they often eclipse the deeper, more uncomfortable truth: it is not the weapon that defines the crime, it’s the person who chooses to wield it.

Men with Guns

In every shooting and murder, it’s almost inevitable. As soon as the news breaks, we hear the same voices blaming the tragedy on the guns. But if you think about it, the guns used in these crimes don’t just fire by themselves, right? They are merely objects, waiting for a person to pick them up and pull the trigger. So, why do we focus so heavily on the weapon, rather than the person behind it?

A gun, like any other tool, cannot make decisions on its own. If someone truly intends to kill, does the type of weapon they have really matter? A killer’s mind is what shapes their actions, not the instrument they use to carry them out, the mentality, not the tool, that defines the crime.

The act of killing is a deeply personal, deliberate, and irreversible decision. Whether it’s carried out with a gun, a knife, or even bare hands, the outcome remains the same: a life is taken, and someone consciously made that choice. The tool may facilitate the act, but it doesn’t carry guilt. It doesn’t harbor hatred, jealousy, fear, or rage. Only people do.

When we focus solely on the weapon, we risk shifting moral and legal responsibility away from the individual. That’s a dangerous misdirection. By obsessing over the object used, we ignore the intentions, the mindset, and the internal battles that led to the decision. It's not what was in their hands, but what was in their heart and mind that makes someone a killer.

This brings us to a deeper issue that often gets overlooked: mental well-being. No one wakes up one morning and commits a violent act in a vacuum. There are layers — trauma, isolation, untreated mental illness, or even manipulation by others. What we feed into the hearts and minds of people matters. Words, ideas, environments, and influences shape beliefs and decisions. If we want to prevent violence, we must confront what we allow to grow in people’s minds and what we fail to address.

It's time to stop looking only at the external triggers and start addressing the internal causes. Let’s ask better questions: What led this person to such despair, hatred, or a loss of concern for human life? What warning signs did we ignore? How can the government — and we, as a society become better at supporting those who are struggling before they reach a breaking point?

Violence doesn’t start with the weapon; it starts with a thought, a belief, a feeling. It starts in the mind and festers in the heart. If we want to change outcomes, we must start there…

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